Interesting post on ALA/DSC history. Implications for whether ALA will turn around?
messages.yahoo.com
DSC's Value to Alcatel
by: nlpjohn (M/Boulder, CO) 10/10/01 12:18 pm
Msg: 14720 of 14736
The DSC-Alcatel Merger seemed like a perfect fit. Where DSC was weak, Alcatel was strong (e.g Transmission division). Where Alcatel was weak, DSC was strong (e.g. Access division). For Alcatel, the Access division was the crown jewel they desired. As a former DSC employee, I found it amusing that after the merger, the DSC culture proved to be the dominent culture. The joke at the time was that DSC bought Alcatel with Alcatel's money.......
But the DSC culture and strength and weaknesses. DSC had a very strong manufacturing department but their Sales/Marketing department was VERY VERY weak. The typical DSC contracts which were signed with their customers were extremely one-sided. DSC took all the risks and their customers had none. These deals were OK during healthy economies but during economic downturns DSC took it on the chin. It was as if DSC Sales/Marketing didn't believe that customers would buy from them unless they created these one sided contracts...... If the Alcatel Sales/Marketeers ran the show instead of the DSC Sales/Marketeers then things would have been different.
When the DSC culture at Alcatel made the deal with SBC, it was a typical DSC contract. They sold their souls for the SBC Litespan/ADSL buildout. We cranked our factories into overdrive. We made huge committments to our suppliers to churn vast quantities of material into our stocks. Alcatel's suppliers were smart in that they held Alcatel accountable for their orders. If Alcatel was smart, they would have held SBC accountable, for their huge promises. Instead, when the contract was signed, Alcatel faced huge penalties for missing production targets yet SBC had little to no obligation to buy from Alcatel. This one-sided contract was typical of the DSC mgmt. In the DSC culture, customers were not business partners where you exchange something of value for their money. Instead customers, were people you groveled and fawn to. Based on the one-sided contracts that DSC was famous for signing, I think most of DSC's customers saw this groveling as weakness and took full advantage. Since Alcatel(DSC) were the kings of the ADSL business, it was idiotic to have signed such a one-sided contract with SBC..... When the SBC orders were coming in, the DSC Marketeers look like geniuses. When SBC pulled the plug on their ADSL/Litespan orders, then it was time for Alcatel(DSC) to pay for their mistakes...... |
